Not Being Afraid to Tell

Recently, I read a couple books by Rachel Thompson. She’s an amazing author that unfortunately went through something very tragic as a child. She was sexually abused by a neighbor. The two books I read are Broken Pieces and Broken Places.

In these books she talks about her experience, along with other experiences, in great detail. It’s hard to read sometimes. I was crying through most of it. I didn’t relate to the child abuse she went through on a personal level, but I did relate to it because my four-year-old niece was abused by my sister’s ex-husband.

As a long of abusers say, Rachel’s told her, “Don’t tell or I’ll kill your family.” Or, at least, it was something to that extent.

I think a lot of people become afraid to say something when we hear that threat. I know I would be. I wouldn’t want my family to be killed because I told someone. So, a lot of people keep it bottled up inside.

I think a lot of the reason my niece didn’t keep it bottled up is because she’s so young. She’s never afraid to talk about things how she sees them. It has a lasting effect on her, though, and I will never be able to forget that.